777 global mile hound

List prices on the menu are one thing but its about a published benefit thats frequently applied inconsistently
at many properties despite how the terms are actually written
One can go into a nice lobby buffet or club at any Hyatt property and have the option to eat like a hog in any quantity and order made to order eggs
Why does a Globe the top 20% off Hyatt's bread and butter customer have to pay up extra for bread and butter just because it isn't a buffet?
Its a game IMHO of cat and mouse to see if the customer goes along with it.
These are the rules we have now.If there is no push back they keep the devaluation going from what I have observed..............

Eggs and bacon don't suddenly increase 150% to start nickel and dining high frequency and or high revenue customers just because a menu comes into play
At the end of the day while the Shay is a lovely property and has some very nice team members it isn't a hotel charging 99 dollars a night either
where I would come up with some empathy
Last I monitored in the new year it seemed to be averaging around 400 dollars a night plus tax and folks aren't staying in Beverly Hills.Its a commercial area
There is room for two or 3 eggs and bacon and even a side of fruit despite inflation
Perhaps the biggest issue may be its an independent restaurant and and ownership may be penny pinching or hotel owners
didn't get a good deal in the partnership

My personal rule is I gravitate towards properties/brands that take unconditionally good care of me for my long term loyalty or find another
as tough love as that may sound.
When I break away from that formula as I will in Europe next week in some cities its because the property excites me to walk away
from my most important perks like
full breakfast and upgrade in favor of a property that outshines and outperforms the experience of the standard
Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott or IHG properties all of whom I hold high tiers of status with
Then I buy breakfast and the exact suite I want and drop being loyal to a brand or program hoping I will get recognition.

Hotel companies sometimes forget we are there staying loyal for our benefits and long after the pent up travel demand cools off and
a recession may kick in many of us will still be filling those beds long before business travel is back in full swing.

p0n

finally made an account to share experience because of the breakfast change mostly (was worried from prior posts about etta breakfast).

Overall amazing experience, had a premium suite upgrade as glob and breakfast is now served on the rooftop restaurant. Feels like hyatt has a decent option in LA now (avoid tommie/thompson hollywood). glob benefits provide a lot of value with valet/resort/breakfast. can't speak to staying here without a suite but don't see myself staying elsewhere in LA going forward.

Location: Easy walking to downtown culver which has a lot of shopping/restuarants/walkable, and quick drive to santa monica. Close to a subway station, which I hear is improving in LA(?).

Room: checked in late, asked if there was any upgrade avail, was given a premium suite with a balcony, which provided great views of an LA sunrise. massive and modern room with a freestanding bathtub.

Breakfast: felt extremely LA to me, modern/trendy brunch options daily at a rooftop pool. the almond crossiant with almond cream was what made me come back daily, otherwise I usually like exploring local options. entree options better than expected. was fully comped besides gratuity.

pool: pool reserved for hotel guests, had no probably get poolside seats during the day and found it very relaxing. would get menu service from restaurant waiters while at pool. relaxing/empty during day. loud/party at night/weekends.

monopod

I had a quick one night stay recently and had a great time. The hotel sent a text early in the day to ask if we have any question. We asked when is the earliest we could check in and was told the room was already ready (this was around 11 am). Got Globalist upgrade to the standard suite, shown on the app the day before. We didn't ask for any further upgrade at check in.

Parking: Valet only, fee waived. They will also charge your EV for free.

Breakfast: Seems like this has massively improved recently. We're told at check in that the limit is $25/person, $100 max per room. We got breakfast and some take-out items for lunch, edging close to the $100 limit. The whole bill was taken care off, so that was really nice. The food quality at the rooftop restaurant was really good.

Lunch at etta: We had only an hour for lunch, so decided to eat at etta. The menu was sufficiently interesting, but ended up being quite expensive for LA. A salad and an appetizer with 2 coffees set us back $70 with tip. Worse, it's not considered part of the hotel so no Hyatt points and you can't even charge it to the room.

Location: This was my first time in Culver city and I got to say I liked it. Like many parts of LA, it's slowly becoming more pedestrian/bike friendly. There's a nice protected bike path in front of the hotel. Culver City Expo line station was steps away from the hotel. As part of your stay, they even provide two TAP cards with a round trip pre-loaded! I ended up using it to go see my friend and get to Union station after checking out. LA has a long way to go in terms of transit, but it's improving.

ralphs

Agreed that Etta is expensive but I'm looking at a hotel bill right now with two etta charges. One from lunch and one from dinner. This is from last month.

To be honest, even when we ate outside the hotel in Culver City/West LA, the food was comparably expensive at most places with a similar vibe. I didn't feel like I was paying a hotel premium as much as a West LA cool restaurant premium.

josephstern

Can confirm that LA restaurant prices, while already high, have grown at rates exceeding inflation in the last two years.

A $42 app with four pieces of raw fish is not at all uncommon. And not just on the west side.

777 global mile hound

Agreed on your thoughts.The Etta chef that put the concept together
has won a few Michelin ⭐️ ⭐️ Stars
So is considered a celebrity chef of some sorts.
The problem is it’s new inventive cooking on old takes
While some of that works brilliantly without the head
executive chef there at the Culver City location it
can fail miserably.I had disintegrated chicken for example
.Execution and consistency is is key in that business
Yes the bread was excellent.But a number of other dishes
tanked as well.I would never go back for any reason except to
get the bread to go.The service was fine but at the end of the day you are only as good as what comes out of the kitchen

I hate sending food back except if it needs a bit more cooking.Past that I’m out with guests at my table all trying to figure out what wrong with their food
That said in an hour after opening the place was packed loud and noisy
And if this is truly fine dining in a casual setting who serves Italian bottled water for ten dollars in plastic bottles?
yep Etta

rajuabju

Sounds like you had a ridiculously bad experience there, which is surprising. I've been to etta about 5-6 times now (dinners), from just me + wife to groups up to 8 people, and its been consistently very good to outstanding.

Pricing is high, no doubt because of location and chef, etc., but its also within reason for what to expect anywhere that is good in West LA.

777 global mile hound

Sometimes at a restaurant or hotel you only get one chance to make an impression on a guest.Execution is key.
Even the legendary Chef Wolfgang Puck suffers from this
Hes a genius but stretched thin with to many concepts/venues and as soon as a chef changes or is out your experience
can wildly vary from exceptional to mediocre at best In the same establishment.
I prefer oiled machines as cold as that sounds where they are on fire with their techniques to produce memorable experiences
To many failed meals in all calibers of restaurants and staffing shortages haven't made this any better as of late.
Things are looking up in places though

ralphs

If you're going to get a $15-20 bread + cheese/butter appetizer I'd suggest also checking out Roberta's across the street. Both are good in their own ways.

HaleiwaFlyer

Just had a stay at the Shay, and would come back again. Much better than Figueroa.

Room: The Premium Suite at room 401 is spacious, had a soaking tub, and great amenities, which the wife loved during her soaking tub use. Issue is that it is next to the elevated rail, so you'll hear rail noises throughout the day, but never kept us from sleeping well.

Food: We both loved Etta and the Canopy Club. Can't go wrong with the food choices, and we loved everything we had. We thought the food prices were reasonable, given the location. They do charge a 3% Kitchen gratuity, so just be aware. Breakfast comped as a globalist, and is at the Canopy Club on the 6th floor. Kogi Taqueria is about 1.5 miles away. Endless food options.

Location: No homelessness or crime issues. The turn into the hotel entrance can be easily missed.

Gym: Decent gym. Free weight goes up to 50 pounds. Has fixed rack for bench press/squats. Peloton bikes/ellipticals. Leg press machine.

Soft Service: The hotel staff were neutral (not the best nor worst). The restaurant staff were really good. The valet staff was really efficient and nice. The housekeeping staff were fast and efficient.

Traffic to Airport: With afternoon rush hour traffic, took 25 minutes to get to departure terminal 4 from the hotel.

Comparison: Compared to Figueroa, I would chose the Shay again, and wouldn't go back to Figueroa (Had suites at both hotels).

Colin

same overall assessment. a few additional points:

1) Bianca across the street is excellent (the $60 Chilean sea bass is the best of my life)
2) The neighborhood streets are beautiful for a long walk about - head west into downtown and then south, or head east & then south meandering down to the Ballona creek path entrance.
3) Turndown service is not possible, housekeeping goes home at 5PM
4) Bring small bills for tips, front desk is cashless
5) Canopy Club breakfast was fully comped and our bill was ~$100 each morning (comped but not painless, sign the bill after 11AM and it gets coded as lunch on folio which front desk removed promptly upon request)
6) Pool is well heated - 85 or more
7) Prive welcome amenity was an excellent bottle of CA Chardonnay (i.e. not Canvas) and delicious fancy-box cookies
8) Great bar at the top of Culver City Public Market a 10 minute walk west in downtown Culver City)
9) Best menu item at etta was hanger steak, orecchiette v good, pep pizza solid
10) free popcorn all day by the pool table in lobby
11) homeless a non-issue in Culver City

FlyinHawaiian

We had a pleasant four night stay last week but not without a few issues.

My TSU upgrade put me into a Premium Balcony Suite; from the looks of it, it is the same one that 59Impala stayed in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/33885944-post69.html

Room 342 is at the end of the wing that's connected to the Ivy Station complex, facing National Blvd, when you look at the fire evacuation map posted here, it's the one on the upper right corner. The notable thing about the third floor is that the wing is connected to the main hotel by an open skybridge; the higher floors are fully connected by interior corridors with rooms. The room is basically above the fitness center and, unfortunately, the trash bay, so every morning about 4-6 dumpsters of garbage were emptied into a truck (with the related noise). Also echoing the comments from the review above, the water in the bathroom took far too long to heat (although I enjoyed the fire hose pressure in the shower and for quickly filling the tub). Minor peeve of mine is that a room with a large soaking tub didn't have bath salts as part of the toiletries (I brought my own just in case).

Since I now live in Manhattan, I found the road noise to be tolerable and didn't bother me or disrupt sleep. What was intolerable was the previously reported soundproofing issues; I have never experienced noise as extreme as I encountered from the room above; booming, thumping sounds of guests and housekeeping moving about, amplified by the drum-like conditions of the room (especially the living room). Guests sensitive to flashing lights should be aware that the red light cameras at the intersection of National and Washington are quite active (mostly triggered by Hollywood stops when turning right on a red light) and the flashes at night are notable from the living room.

As Globalists on a paid stay, the destination fee was waived but valet was charged. Reading this thread reminded me that EV charging was complimentary, so I had the valets charge my plug-in hybrid rental car a few nights which saved me on gas and allowed me to go straight to the car return from the hotel (with a stop at Lodge Bread on Washington). We also took advantage of the free roundtrip on the Metro; we used it to ride to Santa Monica to visit the excellent farmers' market and spend some time walking around before heading back. The breakfast amenity was described to me as "complimentary breakfast consisting of 1 entre, 1 coffee, and 1 juice for up 2 adults & 2 children every morning of your stay to use when dining at The Canopy Club, for breakfast only" in a pre-arrival email from the concierge. The food was good but the service (while friendly) was somewhat uneven and slow. One morning, they ran out of oatmeal for periods and seemed swamped; I saw the management team doing a post-mortem with the staff the next morning to discuss the issues. We skipped breakfast on the last morning so we wouldn't feel rushed getting to the airport if the service was slow. We also had dinner at etta, which was good but not outstanding.

The fitness center was very nice and well equipped with Pelotons, treadmills, free weights, machines, and other items. Valet was generally very quick. Overall, I liked being on the Westside and close to the 405 and 10 freeways. I also liked not having to get up too early to make my departing flight at LAX. I'd likely stay here again.

tailorgiven

Seems like they’re skimming on breakfast provisions, last time I visited it was $25 per person credit up to $100 per room, and the front desk hinted that they’d waive charges based on the $100 limit, not the per person limit. Was staying alone and ate way past $25 (in the $60 to $80 range), got all charges waived. Food was pretty nice, but can echo the slow service. I remembered waiting for 25+ minutes for my coffee.

FlyinHawaiian

We basically ordered one entree and one hot beverage each day and the bill was $55-$60. Despite closing out our tab well before 10am and signing the amount as “GLOBALIST BREAKFAST” I got charged two days for lunch; I caught this the night before our departure and texted the front desk to have them remove the charges before I checked out.

wilywombat

One of my favorite spots in the Westside! Gonna echo this rec for anyone else staying in the area